Being transplanted to San Diego from Boston was enough of an impetus for me to finally stake out a a claim in the blog-o-sphere. Here you'll find whatever strange thoughts meander out of my mind and into the ether.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Hooray! I didn't have to work this past weekend. And I made the most of that time off. Ok, maybe not the most, but I did use much of it well. I managed quite a bit of good family time and even managed to find enjoyment in the mundane...Friday night, Maya had a show and Josh did not look like he was up to behaving in public. So, my lovely wife went with Maya and did some backstage parent duty. Josh and I had some fun at home. We read some books, played on the computer for a bit, and played his current favorite game. It's a Blues Clues card game. He's a little old for it, but we don't exactly play it the way it is intended. It's more of a silliness jumping off point. Each card has an action on it. On every turn, you are supposed to draw an action card and add it to the end of your row of already played actions. Then, you are supposed to do each action in order. The actions are things like "Rub your belly, like Slippery Soap" or "Smile like Shovel and Pail" with pictures of the characters doing the action. Well, we make the game extra silly by adding more than one card at a time, doing the actions quickly, and making a far longer line of cards than they probably intended. We each had a row of 24. I would end my turn by falling over from exhaustion to Joshua's giggling delight.

On Saturday, we decided to take in a couple museums and a puppet show. We went to the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park, which is a AR cry from the Smithsonian, but was sill very interesting to us and the kids. This museum was a little heavier on the air and less on the space. It had a very good visual chronology of flight. Lots of good example of aircraft throughout history and some good lifesize displays from WW I and WW II. Maya and I had a discussion of how to differentiate between planes of those eras. It didn't take long to get through the museum, so we decided to take in a puppet show at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater. We saw Big Joe do his original Halloween show "The Polka Dot Ghost". It was entertaining and engaging, but was clearly geared toward the younger set. Josh liked it, and Maya claimed to like it, but I have my doubts.

After that, we still had some time, so we went to the Fleet Science Center to play for a bit and take in an IMax show before Maya had to report for her performance. Maya played at the dolphin exhibit while Josh preferred the hands-on stuff. In particular, we spent most of our play time on the table where you roll the marble and it spirals inward until it goes into "the black hole". We didn't learn much, but we did have fun trying to collide the marbles. Then we moved over to a turntable which had metal discs of varying thickness. The goal here was to get the disk vertical and rotating in synch with the revolution of the turntable. Then you let it go and see how its rotation interacts with the turntable and you attempt to keep it from rolling off. We learned a bit more there, but nothing he could articulate. He did get good at spinning the discs or, alternately, laying them in such a way that they were flung off at high speeds as he attempted to sever my fingers. The IMax film was "Mystic India". It told the story of a young Yogi who, at age eleven, began a journey that lasted seven years and covered thousands of miles.

On the way home, we grabbed takeout for the kids so we could get Maya to the theater on time. We didn't stay for the show as we needed dinner as well. So, we went to the Mexican place next door. Josh ate more of his Chinese food there, though he topped it off with some chips and REALLY good salsa. I'd consider buying some if they sold it separately. I had a really tasty chipotle wrap and my wife had a shrimp salad in a tortilla bowl.

Saturday night was more of the same for Josh and I. We played on the computer, read books, and snuggled. This gave Mommy time to do some of her homework. He has insisted on the Dr. Seuss book "I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today" every night for almost the past week. It's really good, because we are both memorizing it in the process. When he 'reads' parts, I point to the words. Maybe he'll pick something up that way. One the kids were tucked away, my honey and I curled up on the couch and ordered "Hitch" off the OnDemand service. (Review to come later.)

Sunday morning, Josh got me up early. So, I made cinnamon swirl french toast or the kids, and eggs and whole grain toast for the gown ups. When everyone was fully awake and things were cleaned up, we piled into the car and went to Discovery Lake Park in San Marcos for a little exercise. Mommy and Daddy rollerbladed. Maya rode her bike. And Josh rode his big boy bike (with training wheels) by himself for the first time ever! Woo hoo! He managed to ride 1.5 miles. Maya and Mommy did 3, and I did 4.5. Good workout to say the least. Now that I don't weigh as much, rollerblading is enjoyable again. Neither my shins or back hurt from the weight, though my legs did feel the burn from the exertion.

We couldn't play as long as we liked because Maya had a matinee, so we got her back in time for that. I was the D.O.D. for Sunday's performance. That's the Director on Duty. It's a fancy way of saying usher. I took the tickets, gave out the programs, figured put how many seats we had left over, and helped people find seats together. The show was sold out, but some people didn't show up, so we let in folks on the waiting list. And I gave up my seat so we could get the last waiting person in. That freed me up to go to Costco. Shopping is normally not fun, per se, but I was quite pleased with the fruit and vegetable varieties that were available. I was able to pick up some really good Jonagold apples, for instance. Normally, my choices are Gala, Red Disgusting, Golden Disgusting, and Granny Smith.

Sunday night we just sort of caught up on stuff we needed to get done. It was low key and low pressure. This weekend should be another good one as I don't have to work then, either. In fact, my boss gave me Friday off as well as a comp day for my hard work.

Who is "briwei"?

I've been described before as a "very silly man". Granted, I was the one doing the describing, but I'm an excellent judge of character.
I find it hard to label myself in many other ways as the thing I identify with most is making people smile and laugh.
I have two great kids and a wonderful wife and you will likely see things about them crop up in these pages. Family is another big theme with me. I'll try not to be a shameless braggart about my family, but I do consider them pretty special.
I welcome intelligent discourse and even *gasp* opposing views. Please try to keep it civil, however.